Ex-trooper pleads guilty to misdemeanor in 1965 civil rights shooting (Montg'y Advertiser)

[eppur_se_muova]

MARION -- A former state trooper who pleaded guilty Monday to a misdemeanor in a fatal civil rights shooting 45 years ago still insists he fired in self-defense and has a scar to prove it.

The shooting occurred after a peaceful protest near the Perry County Jail turned into a riot.

Jackson was shot inside a crowded café and those with him said an Alabama state trooper fired the shots that claimed his life eight days later in a Selma hospital.

Fowler, who was indicted three years ago, maintained Monday that he was defending himself. He pointed to a scar and what appeared to be an indention on the left side of his head near his eye.

"See this scar right here," he told reporters as he prepared to leave the Perry County Courthouse. "It's from a Coke bottle."
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more: http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/article/20101116/NEWS02/11160318/Ex-trooper-pleads-guilty-to-misdeameanor-in-1965-civil-rights-shooting




ETA: dupe thread, see http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=9567776&mesg_id=9567776

I thought the "local" version bent over backwards to be much more sympathetic to the convicted man -- almost makes him the victim.